Thursday, June 21, 2012

Nice Win; Tough Loss

These last games have been great baseball for the Durham Bulls. Yes, they lost last night in the bottom of the 9th, but look at all those hits — 16 hits on Monday, 14 on Tuesday, 15 last night. We, of course, must give some credit to Red Wings pitching; nevertheless, I sure wish I’d been able to see the Bulls at work.

Among other highlights, Reid Brignac climbed up above the Mendoza line on Tuesday and stayed there yesterday. Leslie Anderson had an outage last night, but remains the top hitter in the IL. Chris Gimenez got his first home run of the season. Stephen Vogt got one hit to go with his season-best 4-hit night on Tuesday. Shawn O’Malley got an RBI as a pinch-hitter! Brandon Allen’s hitting well, Henry Wrigley’s doing OK, Matt Mangini’s looking good.

Is it a turnaround for the team? Well, no, because pitching is still the heart of the game and the Bulls' starters are trouble there. But for the first time this year, the hitters are making a difference. And that makes for fun baseball.

Have to point out that the two runs scored against Brandon Gomes last night are the first runs he’s allowed since the 21st of May and that the run on that date was the only run he’s allowed this entire season! Bad luck and a good eye by Rochester’s Wilkin Ramirez made the difference in the game.

Outside the game

The kerfuffle over Rays reliever Joel Peralta’s pine tarred glove will affect the Bulls. Assuming he’s suspended, we can expect the Rays to call up a reliever to fill in. Unless I misunderstand the rules (probable) Brandon Gomes has to stay here for a while before he can be called back. That leaves Dane De La Rosa, Alex Torres, and Josh Lueke available without messing with the Rays 40-man.

Rich Thompson hasn’t left the bench yet.

Chris Archer did just fine in his debut. He looked terrific, but suffered some bad luck in the first inning when former Bulls Johnson and Rodriguez botched a play. He went on to strike out 7 Nationals and did not allow a run after the first inning.

I have to admit that it sort of creeps me out to see folks measure luck, but that's what's out there over at Rays Index. Interesting analysis of Rays hitting this year. Hard to bring that kind of analysis into minor league ball, but not too different from what Chris D did for us a while back.